Who said Gaara needed a babysitter? Oh right, Tsunade did
by Disreality
Summary: She has a past that makes her unique in the ninja world. So when the Hokage sends her on a mission to quietly watch over the Kazekage, Hikaru isn't quite happy. Besides, its the Kazakage, why would he need protecting? Slight crossover in that Avatar is mentioned in reference to Hikaru's past mainly. Might change. Hikaru is OC. Rated M for future chapters.


I do not own Naruto or Avatar

She couldn't think beyond the moment, couldn't feel anything except the shock crashing through her system on overdrive. Of all the things she had expected when called to the Hokage's office this certainly hadn't made the list. A mission? Yes certainly. A dangerous mission? More than likely, she had been an Anbu for several months now and had gone on them before. Detached to a semi-permanent posting in Suna so she could be in place for long distance missions? No, not really. She eyed the blond Hokage before her in silent contemplation, glancing almost reflexively down at her scarred hand. She took the time to examine the stacks of paperwork mounded on the desk with a distant eye, allowing the silence to stretch out a little longer. "Why am I being sent on an assignment that a Chunnin would be more appropriate for?" She finally asked, her voice calm and as distant as her eyes. She couldn't let Tsunade see how much this news had surprised her. Angered her, but she kept that emotion tightly controlled.

"We need someone in Suna for the next year, at least. Especially with how the Akatsuki managed to take Gaara in his own village. How they killed him." Hikaru noticed she left out that the Kazekage had been brought back to life. "We are allied with Suna now. But frankly the only thing holding that alliance in place is Gaara." Tsunade continued.

"In other words, I am his personal babysitter." Hikaru cut in with a sigh. "Only stating the purpose of that would lead to problems with both councils...so I am to discreetly watch over him." She eyed the Hokage with something close to disbelief. "..Seriously? Unless the Akatsuki attack again I don't see much chance of Gaara getting his ass kicked. And if they do attack again, I won't make that much more of a difference."

"I disagree." Tsunade steepled her hands in front of her with a sigh of her own. "If you had been there when he was taken by Deidara I very much doubt he would have been taken. You forget Hikaru, I have access to the files of the Third. I know very well what you are capable of if you set your mind to it." Hikaru drew in a slight breath her hand clenching. "And I also think the desert would be a perfect place for you to practice your skills that you have neglected. So the missions I am going to give you out there will allow you plenty of time bring them up to level with your shinobi skills." Hey eyes were sharp, uncompromising. There was sympathy there too, which Hikaru chose to ignore. "I know what this is asking of you, and personally I hate asking it. But we might be facing war, Hikaru. I need my shinobi to give it their all...and you are holding back. Think of the next several months as time to come to terms with your past." She looked at her desk, shuffling the papers there unnecessarily. "You leave in the morning. I have already informed The Kazekage and he will be expecting you a little over three days from now."

Hikaru bowed slightly, well aware she had been dismissed. "You are wrong about one thing, Lady Hokage. You don't even have the slightest clue of what this means, or what will happen." She left by the door, still too shaken to jutsu out as she normally would have done.

It took Hikaru several minutes of wandering before she turned and abruptly made her way to the memorial stone. She was unsettled enough that she didn't even realize the Jounin Kakashi was already there sitting by the stone quietly until she was almost even with him. Hikaru nodded once, _I need to be more aware._ She walked to the other side of the stone and sat in its shadow looking blindly at the carved names. Outwardly she was calm, collected, no emotion showing; but inwardly her thoughts were whirling so fast she couldn't keep track of them. The comment about holding back came to pick at her brain and she winced. As much as it stung, it was true in a sense, although to the underlying statement that she might be putting others in danger was unjust. She would never allow a teammate to become injured if she could do something about it, in fact she had a tendency to be the one in the more dangerous spots…and that wasn't a coincidence. Most people thought it was simply because she unlucky, some probably didn't notice and a very select few knew it was deliberate.

Hikaru healed faster than most other shinobi, with the one exception of Naruto, the kyuubi container. Well, she healed faster as long as she had access to the sun. And she was different in another way as well; she could take more pain and damaging injuries and still keep going than most shinobi could. But that too, wasn't the only reason Hikaru had risen so fast in the ranks, been given the more dangerous missions. No, it was because she was more different than anyone realized, more powerful and had more to draw on. Tsunade was right; had Hikaru been there when Deidara was attacking the Kazekage she might have been able to stop it. She wasn't just a shinobi of the leaf. She was what the ninja world might call an elementalist, though she knew the right name for it. Firebender. And more than an average one at that. Her techniques could have reached Deidara in the air so high above the rest of the shinobi who had been attempting to help Gaara. If she could have controlled them, that is. _If you knew HOW to use them too, if you weren't blocked off._

The sudden cooling of the temperature around her made her start in surprise, to take notice of the darkening sky, colored now a deep indigo. She had passed several hours blindly staring at nothing while lost in her thoughts, and she still hadn't reached a conclusion. Hikaru stood, groaning as aches and a dull throbbing in her back made themselves known. Her neck even hurt, and she wasn't any calmer than she had been hours before. The door she was trying hard not to crack open...the pain of the past...no, Tsunade really didn't realize what she had asked. Because Hikaru would have to deal with it all before her she could actually firebend reliably. She stared at where the scars would be on the back of her hands. Scars hidden by a genjutsu so only she knew they were there. It had almost killed her before...had been years before she didn't wake up wondering if it would be better to just give up. She seriously doubted she'd be able to make any kind of progress at all in a few _months _despite what the Hokage thought. Or even if she wanted to try, mission requirement or not.

Hikaru relaxed abruptly. Her mission briefing hadn't specifically stated that she had to try to use firebending, it was to quietly protect the Kazekage. Tsunade might have been pretty explicit that she expected Hikaru to work on her firebending, yes, but for now she would ignore that part. And like she had said before, unless the Akatsuki attacked the Kazekage would be more than able to handle any attackers if his own people didn't take care of them first. She was strong enough even without the firebending to be a serious threat to anyone who made it past the shinobi of Suna anyway.

Hikaru glanced at the sky again, completely black except for the bright stars and groaned, stretching sore muscles. She needed to hunt up some people and _fuck_ she needed to pack as well. Knowing not saying goodbye to the blond menace that considered himself her friend would have him following her to Suna she decided to find Naruto first. Everything else could wait; he'd probably want to drag her to ramen until the early hours of the morning. Hikaru didn't mind she was a chronic insomniac and doubted she would sleep tonight anyway. She would sleep in Suna. With that in mind she went to find the rambunctious blond, aware that Kakashi was finally stirring from the tree he'd hidden in, reading his famous orange book.

Hey :) this is my first fanfiction, and my first publish of any kind of writing. Reviews are welcome, please no flames. As stated in the summary, Avatar will mostly be referenced to in Hikaru's past. Quick warning, that past will be dark. This first chapter is just to get my feet wet, other chapters will be longer. Hope you enjoyed!


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